How to Prepare Your Vehicle For Long Term Storage

If you have a car or truck that will be sitting around unused for a long period of time, you'll want to take certain steps to ensure that the vehicle is still serviceable/usable when you decide to get it running again. This is especially helpful if the vehicle may end up sitting for a year or more.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 vehicle jack
• 4 jack Stands

1. One of the first considerations will be where to store the vehicle. Preferably, the vehicle should be stored indoors in a garage or warehouse. But if the vehicle has to be left outside it should be protected from the elements with a car cover or large tarp.
   
   If the car will be stored indoors, then getting the vehicle indoors is your first step.
   
   If you'll be covering the car then that will be your last step.

2. The second thing you will want to do is set it up so the vehicle's tires are elevated off of the ground. As the vehicle sits unused the tires will begin to lose air pressure and will eventually go flat. Tires that are left flat for too long will become damaged, so elevating them will prevent them from going flat even if they lose all of their air pressure.
   
   Elevating the vehicle so its tires are no longer in contact with the ground can be accomplished with your vehicle's jack and four jack stands. You will jack up your vehicle, one tire at a time, as per owner's manual instructions. Once the tire is elevated off of the ground, you will slip the jack stand in under the vehicles frame. Lower the jack slowly, and the jack stand will maintain the wheel elevated. Do this for all four tires, one side at a time. The jack stands should not be bunched up near the middle/center of the vehicle, but rather spread out towards the front and rear of the frame.
   
   If your vehicle has a unibody, no structural frame, then you will have to place the jack stands where the manufacturer has placed points for jacking the vehicle up. Your owner's manual will tell you where these four points are on your particular vehicle. But in this case, the act of actually jacking the vehicle up becomes more complicated. You will likely have to place the jack under the vehicles axles, and then place the jack stands at the four points designed for jacking up your vehicle.

3. You should make sure that the vehicles emergency, or hand brake, is not engaged.
   
   Your wheels are now elevated so the vehicle can't roll away. Leave the emergency brake disengaged or the pads may become 'frozen' in place. If this happens you'll have one more repair to make before you can put the car back on the road again.

4. Disconnect the vehicle's battery and remove it from the engine compartment. If it is the type of battery in which you can check the water level and add to it, then check it and make sure it is at the proper level. This will increase your chances of being able to use the battery again sometime in the near future.
   
   But even then, most likely the battery will go dead if the car sits for months or years, and leaving a battery tender plugged in for years is impractical. You'll likely need to get a new battery when you decide to put the vehicle back on the road again.

5. Make sure the vehicles fuel tank is empty.
   
   This is primarily for safety reasons, but if the vehicle sits for many years, any moisture in the fuel or tank can lead to rust forming in the tank. It is better to leave it empty if you know the vehicle will be sitting unused for a year or longer.

6. After all of this is done, you should also cover the vehicle with a car cove or large tarp. This should be done even if the vehicle is being stored indoors.